Substantial changes are taking place in the European financial market. This is partly due to developments in the markets (including the financial crisis of recent years), and partly due to the changes in the regulatory agenda of the EU which involves review of several core directives and which also has resulted in two green papers on corporate governance and the report from the Reflection Group. The aim of this book is twofold. First, to describe and analyse some of the most important changes that have emerged in Europe in recent years, and second, analyse whether more regulatory changes are being called for.

This collection examines the design of financial systems for central and eastern European countries engaged in the transition to market-based economies. It highlights the need for better approaches to measuring performance and providing incentives in banking and for financial mechanisms to encourage private-sector growth. Written by leading European and North American scholars, the essays apply modern finance theory and empirical data to the development of new financial sectors.

This book provides a deep insight into the market changes and policy challenges that transition economies have undergone in the last twenty years. It not only comments on and evaluates the development of financial markets in transition economies, but also highlights the key obstacles to full integration of financial markets into the EU market.

This book contains 21 papers focusing on a wide range of issues concerning financial sector transition in the countries of Europe and Central Asia (ECA). It places the transition economies in the context of recent and prospective developments in global financial markets. This book also evaluates the experience of the last 10 years and reviews the progress from a command financial system to a market-based one, identifying some of the key characteristics of the financial transition.

This book underscores the complexity of the equity markets, the challenges they face, and the fact that they are still a work in process. Three interacting forces drive market change: competition, technology change, and regulatory change. The markets have one major objective in particular to achieve: the delivery of accurate price discovery for both traders and the broader market. Are we getting it? Are competition, technology, and regulation acting together to improve market quality, or are they adding to the complexity of the markets and making accurate price discovery harder to achieve? The difficulty of addressing these issues and reaching a consensus regarding public policy is reflected in the diverse opinions expressed in this book. From an institutional perspective, the volume’s contributors highlight the interconnectedness of all aspects of the internal and external environment within which exchange organizations act. Equity Markets in Transition underscores how technological evolution and recent regulatory changes have influenced the business, and how these developments have opened new possibilities for exchange organizations and for equity markets as a whole, including such issues as the impact of equity markets on job creation. The book combines both a theoretical and a practical approach. Part I presents a theoretical overview of the international equity market business, including an overall description of the value chain of stock trading that includes deep dives on every decisive step. Part II contains contributions from various business specialists who have specific practical and academic knowledge of the different steps. Equity Markets in Transition represents a unique combination of theoretical and practical analysis that offers first-hand insights on all relevant interactions and interrelations among the various parts of the exchange business, with an emphasis on facilitating analysis of the status quo and of emerging trends regarding business models, regulation, and the development of the competitor, customer and investor sides.

The countries of Central and Eastern Europe have been through a profound transition process for more than a decade now. The financial sectors and markets in the region have been subject to major structural reforms including privatization, liberalization and the acquisition by foreign banks of controlling interests in local financial institutions. This important new book includes papers that chart this process. Topics discussed include the implications of future EU membership, and the strategies pursued by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.